BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - A discrimination lawsuit against Atlanta-based BellSouth has been reassigned from Chief U.S. District Judge U.W. Clemon to a judge who was trying to decide if Clemon should step down because his nephew was an attorney for BellSouth. <br>
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U.S. District Judge Lynwood Smith Junior was randomly assigned to the lawsuit Monday. The suit accuses BellSouth of discriminating against black employees in pay and promotion practices. <br>
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Smith ruled last month that the nephew, attorney Terry Price, could not represent BellSouth in the lawsuit, clearing the way for Clemon to hear the case. <br>
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Price's mother is Clemon's sister. Federal law requires judges to recuse themselves from a case in which any relative is acting as a lawyer or is a partner in a law firm that can benefit from the outcome. <br>
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Smith reconsidered his ruling after learning that the suit was not randomly assigned by computer to Clemon as he first understood, but was directly assigned to Clemon by a deputy clerk. <br>
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Monday, Smith ordered that the court clerk redraw the assignment at random from a list of all judges accepting civil cases. Smith also refused to withdraw his decision to remove Price and his Birmingham law firm from the case. <br>
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Terri Denard, a spokeswoman for BellSouth, said the company will appeal Smith's decision to remove Price to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. She said Price has represented the company on employment and labor issues for eight years.
